New ArtsQuest fest celebrates the outdoors

Live birds of prey will be on exhibit during a Hawk Mountain presentation Saturday at the Step Outdoors Lehigh Valley festival.

Live birds of prey will be on exhibit during a Hawk Mountain presentation Saturday at the Step Outdoors Lehigh Valley festival.

(Contributed by Hawk Mountain)

Margie PetersonSpecial to The Morning Call

Check out the new Step Outdoors Lehigh Valley festival at SteelStacks

High House stands next to the Minsi Trail Bridge in Bethlehem, a remnant of the Industrial Age where mammoth gun barrels destined for Navy ships once hung during Bethlehem Steel's heyday.

It ain't the Rockies, but that tall building is close enough to resembling a cliff ledge that a pair of peregrine falcons call it home.

On Saturday and Sunday May 30 and 31, you can visit the peregrines — still an endangered species in Pennsylvania — as part of the first Step Outdoors Lehigh Valley festival at SteelStacks. The festival, organized by ArtsQuest and the Lehigh Valley Zoo, will feature talks about peregrine falcons with visits to the nesting pair, bike riding on the Lehigh Canal towpath, urban hikes on the Bethlehem Greenway, lessons on how to cook bugs, a fly-tying workshop and many other activities.

More than 30 organizations will give presentations and conduct activities to entertain you and immerse you in lessons about the outdoors, wildlife and conservation.

"We want this to be an event that appeals to all ages but with a strong focus on children and families," says Mark Demko, ArtsQuest senior director of communications. "What a non-traditional location to have an outdoors festival — on the grounds of the former Bethlehem Steel plant. You might not think of Downtown Bethlehem as a place to explore the outdoors but the city has such a great park system."

The Lehigh Valley Zoo will highlight its new reptiles and amphibians exhibit by bringing mammals, reptiles, amphibians and birds to the festival, and the animals will be outside on the SteelStacks campus during each day for viewing. Zoo staff will do a presentation called "The Wonders of Wildlife" at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in the Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas inside the ArtsQuest Center.

Zoo staff will teach how to make a "Toad Abode" — essentially a biodegradable flower pot — which can be taken home and put in your backyard to attract toads, says Alan Raisman, zoo marketing and events manager. The activity, which will take place both days, is free.

"Toads are natural pest controllers," Raisman says. "Instead of using harsh chemicals to control pests, create a Toad Abode and they will do the work for you."

In the same "If you build it, they will come" philosophy, register for the "Make Your Own Bluebird Box" workshop, which will run five times from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day. The workshop costs $10 per person and there are only 10 spots available each day. Register in advance at http://www.steelstacks.org.

The glass studio staff at ArtsQuest will lead workshops in creating a glass hummingbird feeder Saturday and Sunday. The cost is $45. Register in advance at http://www.steelstacks.org.

Cabela's of Hamburg is offering a seminar called "Backpacking 101" at noon Saturday at the ArtsQuest Center. The giant outdoors store also will set up a mock campsite.

On Sunday at 11:15 a.m., Cabela's staff will demonstrate how to use metal detectors and give you a chance to use the device to find prizes on the Levitt Pavilion lawn.

For $5 a person, you can rent a bike and helmet and take a ride led by Wildlands Conservancy on the Lehigh Canal Towpath at 1 and 3 p.m. Saturday. Register in advance at http://www.wildlandspa.org

The local chapter of the Appalachian Mountain Club will lead 3-mile hikes on the Bethlehem Greenway starting at the SteelStacks campus at 10 a.m. each day with a limit of 20 people per group. Register by calling Cathy Reuscher at 610-868-6903 or email creuscher@outdoors.org.

The Hokendauqua Chapter of Trout Unlimited will hold a "Tie One On" fly-tying workshop 1-3 p.m. Saturday at the ArtsQuest Center. For $15, you can learn to tie two fly-fishing flies — Woolly Buggers and Gold Ribbed Hare's Nymphs.

At noon Sunday, the Keystone Elk Country Alliance will give a talk on Pennsylvania's only wild elk herd, which lives in the Northeast part of the state. At 2:30 p.m. Sunday, the Jacobsburg Historical Society will do a presentation on the history of the Pennsylvania Longrifle.

If you're intrigued by shows like "Survivor" and feel the need to eat bugs, check out "Yum Bugs," a cooking demonstration at 1 p.m. Sunday outside the ArtsQuest Center by ArtsQuest's executive chef Michael Hoffman. Hoffman will show people how to whip up a tasty batch of barbequed crickets, and salt and pepper mealworms. Unlike "Survivor," eating is optional.

If bugs aren't your cup of tea, you can buy regular festival fare at the Mike and Ike Bistro in the ArtsQuest Center or the Mack Cafe at the Levitt Pavilion. If you're willing to be a little adventurous, sample the alligator bites with Cajun dipping sauce, the wild boar sausage with pepper and onions or the tacos with ground venison.

The peregrine falcon talks and walks will be presented by the Lehigh Valley Audubon Society at 2 p.m. Saturday, starting at the Audubon booth, and 11 a.m. Sunday. They will be led by Art McMorris, the Peregrine Falcon coordinator of the Pennsylvania Game Commission. Groups are limited to 20 people; register at http://www.steelstacks.org.

After the talks, the groups will walk over to High House to look for the pair of peregrines nesting there.

"Maybe we'll see the birds and maybe we won't," says McMorris. "The birds hold all the cards."

Peregrines are the fastest animal in the world, able to reach speeds of 200 miles per hour when they are in a power dive chasing food or showing off for a mate, according to McMorris.

Peregrines were once on the federal endangered species list but have made a comeback — more out West than on the East Coast, says McMorris. They are still considered endangered in Pennsylvania; last year there were only 43 known nesting pairs in the state.

Without as many cliff ledges as the birds can find out West, peregrines tend to opt for nesting on tall buildings in the Commonwealth, he says.

The problem is life in urban areas is more hazardous for peregrine fledglings. A few years ago, all three fledglings from the High House nest were killed by cars on the Minsi Trail Bridge, McMorris says. Fortunately, three fledglings from last year's brood survived.

Other activities include a Good Bugs/Bad Bugs matching game run by the Penn State Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners, talks on raptors by Hawk Mountain Sanctuary representatives and a chemistry demonstration by the Da Vinci Science Center.

On Saturday evening, after the festival ends for the day, the Grammy-nominated folk-rock duo Trout Fishing in America will present a free concert at 7:30 p.m. at Levitt Pavilion SteelStacks.